WHAT ARE HIGHER LAWS?

Have you ever had the feeling like there is more going on in this life than what appears to be,  a sense that there really is a higher power in whatever context you believe that to be?  I’ve had this feeling all my life.  It is this feeling that took me on a  journey in search for answers to my big questions of why am I here and what am I supposed to be doing.  My search took me to the far away land of Indonesia, to spiritual books, churches and even to sweat lodges.  I found some evidence that I could not deny and some truth and yet I did not have a complete picture of what this life is really about.  That is until I learned one principle that made all the puzzle pieces fit together, that answered my big questions and pointed me in the direction of understanding the plan that the universe has for me and how I could work within that plan to create the life I longed for and live my purpose.  So what was that principle I learned that created this earth shattering collaboration with the universe? 

It's a Pendulum Thing

The principle that helped me to become a partner with the creator was learning and understanding the principle of Higher Laws.  What are Higher Laws you might be asking?  Sound kind of flaky?  Well it’s not.  Higher Laws are very real and tangible.  Simply put, higher Laws are principles that create results that work upon a paradox.They are a set of laws outlined by the Creator that when we align to a Higher Law, we get an alternate result.  It’s a pendulum thing.  When you take a long necklace with a pendulum on the bottom and swing it, you take an action on one side by drawing up the pendulum and then release it.  And what happens next?  It swings right?  The action that you take on the one hand creates an alternate response as the pendulum swings up the other side. It’s kind of counter intuitive. If you want the pendulum to go to the left shouldn’t you just be able to push the pendulum to the left?  You can but it’s not sustainable because the moment you let go, it’s going to swing to the right. To go in the direction we want to go, we need to take an action in what seems to be the completely opposite direction. That’s how the universe set up higher laws.  There is an opposite to all things.  To create the results we want we must do the action that is in alignment to the Higher Law that corresponds with the result we want.  

Have I confused you enough?  Let me give you an example. 

One example of how a principle works is that people who are constantly looking for love and taking their own temperature to know if they are happy will not be happy. People who are looking outside themselves and trying to serve others out of pure love are happy. It’s a pendulum thing, we cannot find happiness through an inward search for happiness. Finding happiness requires us to do the opposite by looking outward to serve those around us. As Mahatma Gaundi so eloquently put it, “the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” 

Higher Laws are Steadfast

I have sometimes struggled with truly understanding what higher laws are and how they affect me. Stephen Covey explains that “the fundamental idea is that there are principles that govern human effectiveness - natural laws in the human dimension that are just as real, just as unchanging and arguably ‘there’ as laws such as gravity are in the physical dimension.” 

Brandon Broadwater helped me to understand higher laws best when he relayed a story told by Frank Koch in the Proceedings, a Navel Institute magazine. 

"Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities. 

Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing of the bridge reported, “Light, bearing on the starboard bow."

“Is it steady or moving astern?” the captain called out.

Lookout replied, “steady, captain”, which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship. 

The captain then called to the signalman “signal that ship: we are on a collision course, advise you change course 20 degrees."

Back came a signal “advisable for you to change course 20 degrees."

The captain said “send, I’m a captain, change course 20 degrees."

“I’m a seaman second class. You had better change course 20 degrees” came the reply.

By that time, the captain was furious. He spat out, “send, I’m a battleship. Change course 20 degrees."

Back came a flashing light, “I’m a lighthouse."

We changed course. 

What does that story teach us about higher laws? Higher laws are like lighthouses. They are unmoving principles like gravity. We cannot change them because they are not in style or convenient or even socially preferred. As Cecil B. DeMille said “It is impossible for us to break the law. We can only break ourselves against the law.” Brandon Broadwater explains that “the reality of such principles or natural laws becomes obvious to anyone who thinks deeply and examines the cycles of social history. These principles surface time and time again, and the degree to which people in a society recognize and live in harmony with them moves them toward either survival and stability or disintegration and destruction.” So I guess the question we need to know is; in our own lives are we moving towards stability, peace and even prosperity, or towards destruction, even if that destruction is a slow disconnection with the people we love. 

Principles in Action

There was a time in my life when I desperately wanted financial results.  I recall one day doing the budget with my husband Andy. I kept looking from our bank account to our budget hoping that if I looked at it just one more time I would see something different.  Tears began to well up in my eyes as I took in what I saw.  Our bank account was not only reading a negative amount, it was reading a very negative amount. I looked over at Andy and he must of saw the look of despair, hopelessness and panic in my eyes as he wrapped his arms around me and said “it’s going to be okay Con, we’ll figure this out.”  I felt a small bit of relief in his words but had no idea how we would ever figure it out. 

Fast forward a couple days and we are on a coaching call with our mentor Brandon Broadwater.  He had asked for an update about how things were going and as he listened intently to my fears and anxiety about our financial situation, he asked “so you want to make more money each month?” “yes” I responded. A glimmer of hope entered my mind and I thought “okay finally Brandon will help us to get somewhere.” Then Brandon asked me a question that cut to my very core and helped me begin to understand Higher Law principles. He asked “so how is your relationship?”  “My relationship?” I gasped. “What does my relationship have anything to do with making more money?” Again Brandon asked with piercing truth “you want to make more money right?” “yes” I responded again now losing a little patience and grace. “Your relationship has absolutely everything to do with your financial situation.” 

In that moment as the truth of that statement sunk into my very core I realized that I had a lot to learn about how to get results in my life.  It is incredible how once Andy and I began to improve the connection in our relationship, other tangible things like money fell into place.  We started to work together more on financial planning, we were more supportive of each other’s ideas and solutions, we became a team.  I know that might not sound like much but for us it made all the difference.  We went from being in conflict over money to being a team that worked towards creating a better future, which included more financial security.  What was the result? We went from being $1200 in the hole every month to having enough money for our living expenses, savings and paying off debt.  We paid debt off faster than we ever had before and at the time paid off 80 percent of our $100,000 debt in a couple of years.  The best part was that we were happy together and that our capacity to love one another and work together no matter the circumstance increased.  We saw Higher Laws in action as we created a healthier relationship which resulted in healthier finances. 

Let’s Make Sure We’ve Got it

• Higher Laws are just as real as physical laws such as gravity
• higher Laws are principles that create results that work upon a paradox
• We cannot change Higher Laws, we can just break ourselves against the laws when we choose to not follow them
• Following Higher Laws creates the results and blessings we desire in this life

Digging Deep

Whether Higher Law principles are new for you are not, here are some ideas that will help you to dig deep in your own life and apply the principles to get the results you want even more of. You can choose to ask yourself these questions, or not but I promise you that those people who dig deep and apply what they are learning are the ones who will get results. 

1. If Higher Laws principles are new to you, how can you educate yourself about them? 
2. If you know about Higher Law principles, what is the next Higher Law you need to align to & what is one step you can take towards aligning within the next 24 hours?

I’m humbled and grateful to be on this journey with you. I know that as you apply the Higher Law principles that you learn, you will experience more results in your life. They may not come in your timeline, but they will come. It is a pendulum thing and a predictable law like gravity is; if we align to our Creator’s laws, we will get the attached result or blessing to that law. After all, we cannot build the spiritual muscles of the soul by sitting on the couch of mediocrity. I promise that learning about Higher Law principle is one of the most important things we can do in this life. It is when we understand Higher Laws that we strengthen our spiritual muscles and can create the life we desire.  There are a few places that you can learn about Higher Laws. You will find pieces of truth in many places, however one of the place I have found the most truth is through the Higher Laws company by attending the Master Your Power Within event. What an adventure life becomes when our spiritual eyes are opened and we can see things as they really are.  

Much love,

Connie 

NO GUILT RAW CHOCOLATE

For awhile now I have been talking about how eating healthier has been a journey for me. I have always had two sides within myself battling when it comes to food. There is the part of me that knows that what I put into my body will affect how I feel, think and act. This part of myself has a true desire to eat healthy, choose the spinach smoothie over the doughnut, eat the salad over the grilled cheese. Then there is another part of me that wants everything to be fun and delicious…and is genuinely saddened by the prospect of eating green smoothies and chia for dessert every single day of my life. I can justify almost anything when it comes to food. Justifications that sound a lot like “of course I can eat cake for breakfast, I’ve been so good all week." Whenever I give in to my sugary pleasures though. my state crashes and I feel terrible. Not just because of the inevitable sugar crash afterwards…though there definitely is one, but also because of the inevitable guilt crash. When I over indulge in the food department of my life, I felt guilty because I felt like I was weak for giving into my culinary pleasures. 

Then I came upon a program that has changed my eating and my life. It has given me back a sense of control with juggling my desires to eat healthy while eating yummy. This program has helped me to recover from decades of poor eating choices, while learning how to eat in a way that leaves me feeling full, energized and excited about food. It has taught me how to eat what I love (even chocolate!) in a way that is happy and healthy and with no guilt. What is the program I am talking about? I am talking about the Healthfix Program. I took part in the 30 day Healthfix program and it has made such an incredible difference for my family. Over the last 30 days, my husband Andy has lost over 25 pounds and his hotness has increased to the “wow I’m married to that hottie!”side of the line. My daughters are asking for healthy treats and my 2 year old daughter is asking for green smoothies everyday. I have lost about 5 pounds and can finally fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans! I have so much more energy and patience with my kids. I am loving to eat healthy treats that are so unbelievably chocolaty and delicious that I don’t even crave the surgery treats! Okay for me this was huge! 

I was thinking about why this program has been such a game changer for me when other diets and programs have not worked for me in the past. I think it is because in the past when I have tried other dieting or weight loss programs, I felt deprived. With other programs I felt like I had to do without to win so it was a matter of willing myself to not eat chocolate cake and willing myself to work out in the morning. This kind of change based on willpower only lasted a little while before my willpower muscles got tired and I reached for a candy bar and stopped going for a run. The Healthfix program is different because it gently took me through a detoxification process using all natural and healthy foods. Then it helped me learn through experience how to shop for and prepare healthy foods that fuel my body and leave me feeling full. The weekly coaching helped me understand how eating this way was helping my body heal itself. The healthy food detoxification, learning how to cook in a healthy way and the coaching in the Healthfix program combined to create an effect where my body naturally began to heal itself so I feel better and as my body started to change, my desires changed. I began to crave the boost of energy I feel after a smoothie and I craved the healthy and yummy chocolate treats over the regular sugary kind. I'm not perfect but the thing that I love most about this program is that I don't have to be! When I am regularly eating the healthy foods my body needs, I can still eat some of my old foods favorite foods in moderation. The funny thing is though, I have replaced most of these foods with healthy alternatives anyways!

So today in the spirit of Valentines Day I wanted to share with you one of my favorite chocolatey treats that is so unbelievably simple to make. I love this recipe because it has has a number of health benefits and is is yummy vegan milk chocolate. Try it out and let me know what you think. 

RAW MILK CHOCOLATE RECIPE

1/2 c raw honey

1/2 c coconut oil

1/2 c cacao powder

1/2 tsp vanilla

*4 tbsp full fat coconut milk (this is the solid part skimmed off a can of coconut milk that’s been refrigerated overnight)

• Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth
• If you want, add any other mixings you like (cranberries, coconut, chopped nuts, raisins) and stir
• For chocolates: pour into moulds to make little chocolates & refrigerate for 1 hour
• For chocolate dipped strawberries: dip washed and patted dry strawberries in the chocolate & put on a plate lined with parchment paper and refrigerate 1 hour
• For frozen chocolate dipped bananas: put a full banana on a chopstick and pour the chocolate over the banana, sprinkle chopped nuts on the chocolate if desired and put on a plate lined with parchment paper and freeze for 2 hours
• *you can leave out the coconut milk if you want more of a semi sweet chocolate

Principle in Action

I remember one day I was feeling kind of defeated. I stepped on the scale and didn’t see much change. I got out my measuring tape and as I measured my waist, I didn’t see as much belly fat loss as I wanted. I felt like giving up and thought “well if I am going to be the same, I might as well eat whatever I want to eat!” Then I indulged in eating some pizza…the cheesy, sloppy kind that comes in a huge brown box. I ate a slice of pizza, and then another, and then another, and then another. I ate beyond the “I’m hungry side of the line” to the “I’m so full I can’t move side of the line.” I went to bed and that night and I felt sick…really sick. I’m talking sore throat, nauseous kind of sick. I woke up the next morning, got back on track with the Healthfix program of green smoothies and something incredible happened. 

Within a couple hours I felt better! My sore throat went away, I didn’t feel sick anymore…like at all! I realized in that moment that when I am making a shift towards a healthier lifestyle sometimes the physical changes that I want don’t come as quickly as I would like them to but there is something bigger going on within me. It is a physical shift towards my body being in a healthier state, being more able to recover from sickness, more able to heal itself. Now I am not saying I am never going to eat pizza…I love pizza! We even have pizza night at our house still…although we use a cauliflower crust and it really is seriously delicious! I even will have the messy, cheesy, big box kind of pizza once in awhile…although I definitely learned a lesson about aligning to moderation! Maybe I’ll have some veggies first. I am saying that sometimes when we make changes in this life, we need to be patient with the results and trust that fundamental shifts are happening when we can’t see them. We need to remember the big picture and remember that the small things…feeling more energy, feeling happier are actually big things and are indeed worth it.  

Let’s make sure we’ve got it

We have talked about some principles relating to health so let’s review to make sure we’ve got it. 

• We don’t need to be perfect, we just need to be striving
• It is possible to eat healthy treats…and now you have the best yummy no guilt chocolate recipe ever
• When we make changes in healthy eating, we get momentum and eventually we desire healthier foods
• We need to stick with the process with patience by continuing to do the little steps towards better health

Digging Deep

All of us have edges of where we want to grow in the area of health. Maybe we want to feel more energy, or fit into our jeans, or be alive for our grandchildren, or feel more confident. I have talked about one of the areas in my life that I have been working on. Where is an area in your life that you want to be even healthier? Grab a pen and paper and let’s explore some questions that will help you to get clarity on how to get there.  

1. What do you want to be different in your life to be even healthier?
2. Why is this important to you?
3. What would happen if you don’t do this?
4. What is one specific daily step you can take towards this vision of a healthier you?
5. When can you do this everyday? 
6. How are you going to get back up and keep taking steps towards this goal when you forget or slip into old patterns?
7. Who can support you with this goal? Maybe it’s a friend, partner or program.

Now that we have talked about some principles about health and I have given you one of my favorite healthy treat recipes...I know you are going to love this chocolate recipe and all the delicious treats it can make! I wish I could give you all the delicious recipes that I have learned through the Healthfix program but there just is not room on this blog for all the juices, smoothies, dinners and treats! I just tried a raw cinnamon swirl recipe and raw chocolate brownies that are out of this world! I am so grateful to learn how I can create pure moments with my family around yummy food without paying the cost of the sugar crash crazies afterwards! If you would like to talk to a coach about how you could get started on your journey to health, click here. 

After you try the raw chocolate recipe please let me know what you think. I hope you have a wonderful Valentines Day that is filled with healthy yummy chocolately treats :)

Much love,
Connie

5 STEPS TO HIT ANY GOAL

The Kaizan of our lives

I mentioned before that there are some specific tools that can predictably help us reach our goals. In my previous post, we explored the three things that get in our way to reaching our goals. These three dream stealers are lack of perspective, pride, and hopelessness. We also identified the six steps towards creating lasting change. If you remember those six steps are:

• 1. Creator
  2. Heart
  3. Action
  4. Need to
  5. Get back up
  6. Excel in Kaizan

Now that we understand those principles, we can dive even deeper into the specific tools we can use daily that help us to reach our goals. I recall a time in my life when I did not know about these tools and I wanted to paint my house. I had never painted a house before and I was feeling a little overwhelmed by the prospect of painting the entire outside of my house. At the time I had a small child at home with me and life was busy with naps, laundry mountains and everything else involved with being a mom. I had no idea how I was going to fit in learning to paint, buying the paint and supplies and the hours and hours it would take to finally get the job done. I was stuck in analysis paralysis. Ever been there? It is a quaint little place where time stands still and we think we are getting a lot accomplished because we are thinking about something a great deal but the reality is that even though we are exerting a great deal of energy thinking about getting started, we are not actually taking any action, so nothing gets done.  

Then I learned about one tool at the Master Your Power Within Event that helped me to get to work in an effective and manageable way and helped me to finish painting my entire house in just over a week while working in the cracks of time between my baby’s naps. This tool helped me so much that I began to use it in every area of my life; from making sure I spent daily quality time with my kids, to writing a book. It has changed everything for me because it has helped me understand what specifically I can do to get the things I want done.  

So what it this tool? Well it is something that Brandon Broadwater teaches at the Master Your Power Within Event called "Bullseye Times". It is  part of a process that he spends over half a day teaching and although I don’t have half a day now to share with you everything he taught me, I will give you everything I can within the time we have together.

Basically a Bullseye Time is a small period of time that you dedicate each day to taking action on something you want to accomplish in your life and it allows you to accomplish that goal in small, manageable, daily steps. Here are the basics to succeeding at bullseye times.

Bullseye Times:

• Set one specific goal you want to accomplish (i.e.: I will make 5 sales calls daily)
• Set a start and end time of when you will do this everyday.
• Plan to work on it between 15 min to an hour every day. We are much more effective when we are working in small bursts of time.
• During your bullseye time you are taking direct action on the thing you want to accomplish. It’s not a time to plan, it is a time to do! 

Now that you understand what bullseye times are, there is something else you need to know about this process. If you leave this out you will have unpredictable results but add this next step to your goal planning and you will be able to hit any target.   

Consequences and Rewards

This next step is critical because if we leave it out we will not be completely driven to do whatever it takes to reach our goals. All of us are either driven by pleasure or pain. When we are truly motivated to change, it is either because we want to have something pleasurable or we don’t want something painful. For my husband, he is motivated by pleasure and he loves to eat good food so he would be completely motivated to do work he doesn’t necessarily enjoy to get something yummy. Pain motivation doesn’t work for him very often. He is pretty easy going and adaptable so he will just put up with less than ideal circumstances rather than it driving him forward to change it. Now for me I am motivated by pain. I will do a lot to avoid painful consequences. I like good things in my life and will work towards them but when push comes to shove, I will do anything to avoid painful things I don’t want in my life. So for us to predictably and effectively reach our goals, we need to have a motivator in place pushing us forward. If we do not put this in place, our results will be sporadic and unpredictable. If we attach consequences and rewards to our goals and are committed to following through on implementing them based on our performance, we will have a fire lit within us pushing us forward towards creating the life we desire. 

 

To get started, we need to find something you really want everyday. Maybe it is a special type of food, or checking your emails, or hey even brushing your teeth. Whatever it is, it needs to be something that you just can’t do without and would do anything to have it. Now what you do is attach this thing you want most of all to the goal you have. Here’s some examples of how this works. Let’s say you want to workout everyday and you also love to shower every day, you could decide that you can have a shower (reward) as soon as you workout for 15 minutes (goal). If you want to improve your relationship and you realize that you haven’t been telling your kids you love them, your could decide I can brush my teeth (reward) as soon as I tell my kids I love them (goal). 

The next step is to also attach a painful consequence to your goal if you don’t do it. By painful I don’t mean physical pain (that would be weird!), I just mean something that you don’t want that will drive you to take action on your set goal. Here are a couple examples. “I can’t have a shower (consequence) until I have exercised for 15 minutes in the morning (goal).” “I can’t check my e-mails (consequence) until after I have had my morning spinach smoothie (goal).” It is just attaching a consequence painful enough to motivate us to do whatever it is that we really want to do. 

Putting these rewards and consequences in place helps us to avoid being caught in the dream stealer trap of losing perspective because they help keep us focused on our long term desires rather than short term pleasures. We make it easier for us to take the small steps forward necessary to reach our goals than it is staying in comfortable complacency because the pleasure and pain that we have chosen for ourselves drives us to take those small steps. This is just awesome because it helps us to get out of our own way.

Principle in Action 

I had an inspiration that I should write a book book but I found it so difficult to get started and stay in momentum. I would start writing one day and commit to writing for 5 minutes every day. I would do awesome for a couple of days and then life would get in the way and I would have the same old excuses (not enough time, energy, knowledge…the list could go on and on) and I would stop. My progress was so slow that I remember thinking the book might be finished by the time I am 95 years old! Then I learned how to use bullseye times at the Master Your Power Within event and finally understood how I could set myself up to win by simply putting a bullseye time in place and attaching consequences and rewards to it. So that is what I did. I decided that I could have a shower after I wrote in my book. After I did this I remember one time it was about 10:30 at night and Andy came outside and saw me frantically writing in my book and knowing that I normally am not writing that late, he said to me “whatcha doing?”. I told him I am writing in my book because I really want a shower!

Even though putting bullseye times and rewards in consequences worked most of the time, I wasn’t perfect with it. I remember one time I didn’t write in my book and so I couldn't have a shower but I really needed to quickly run into Costco. So I threw my hair up in a ponytail, put on some clothes lying on the floor and ran out the door. While I was at the grocery store I saw someone that I know. At that moment, a mental checklist raced through my mind…"did I remember to put on deodorant, is my shirt clean, I think I have baby spit up on me, did I even comb my hair today?” Let me tell you my friends, it only takes a couple times of running into people you know while running through the stinky pants mental checklist before you are willing to do any goal to get a shower! No one wants to be the stinky, crazy hair lady! That is the power of this principle. When the consequence and reward are something that will really motivate us…we will do anything to get it done!

Let’s Make Sure We’ve Got it

• To predictably reach our goals we need to do it in small manageable steps
• Setting bullseye times are the most effective way to take small, predictable steps towards our goals
• For bullseye times to be effective we need to:
  1. Set one specific goal you want to accomplish (i.e.: I will make 5 sales calls daily)
  2. Set a start and end time of when you will do this everyday.
  3. Plan to work on it between 15 min to an hour. We are much more effective when we are working in a small burst of time.
  4. During your bullseye time you are taking direct action on the thing you want to accomplish. It’s not a time to plan or think, it is a time to do!
  5. Attach a pleasurable reward and painful consequence to doing your daily goal

Digging Deep

Now that we know this principle of bullseye times let’s put it into action in your life. Get a pen and paper or an electronic notebook and let’s get started! 

• What goal do you want to accomplish?
• What specific small daily step can you take towards this goal? (has to be something you can daily say yes I did it or no I didn’t do it)
• When are you going to start doing this every day? 
• How long will you do this for? (15 minutes to an hour is ideal)
• What pleasurable reward can you attach to it if you get it done?
• What painful consequence can you attach to it if you don’t get it done?

Now we know how to set specific, achievable goals and we understand how to break them down into small steps that we can take every day towards our goal. We also know how to set up the environment to win by putting in pleasurable rewards and painful consequences to help push us towards our dreams. I promise that when you put these things in practice in your own life, you will move faster towards the life you want to create. If you want help with becoming clear on your goals or setting specific goals in any area of your life; business, parenting, relationships, money or personal happiness click here to register for a complimentary coaching session.  

Please let me know know how using this process works for you and the successes you have had in moving towards your dreams. 

Much love,
Connie

THE SECRET TO ACHIEVING GOALS

Every year especially around the beginning of January, our hearts turn to what we want to be different in our lives. This type of reflection might come in the form of a resolution, after the loss of someone we love, or in the everyday reflection of the soul. However it comes about, it is the moments when we reflect on the successes, failures and things left undone in our lives. In some ways this type of resolution for change has gotten a bad rap. I’m guessing that this is mostly because overly crowded gyms tends to have a quiet time around February 1st when the resolution exercise buffs have run out of steam and motivation. This doesn’t just happen in the gym though. Have you ever had a desire to change something in your life, set a goal and been really committed to making that shift for the first couple weeks and then for one reason or another….(not enough time, money, desire to get up early) and your commitment toward reaching your goals diminishes? Have you ever wondered what it is that helps some people achieve their goals while others give up on the dreams they once held? 

In the past I often pondered this universal mystery…by pondering really I mean beat myself up emotionally about why I couldn’t reach my goals. I’ll never forget the ease of burden and shame when I finally understood what principles and tools support us in reaching our goals. I began to understand what I was missing in my life and the simple steps I could take to change things so that I could create the life I want. I would like to share this with you today. 

Before we go into that just yet I would like to tell you a story. This is a story about a man named Peter Kinch who I interviewed years ago. I love this story because it has been so essential in understanding how real change works. Peter was a very successful business man in the real estate industry. He had dabbled for years making some investments on the side and one year the market shifted and he lost everything. Not only did he lose everything but he ended up owing a great deal of money. Peter told of how this was very difficult for his family and he shared one particularly challenging story that brought tears to my eyes. He told of how during their financial downfall his wife went to the store to buy diapers. She was at the checkout paying and as she ran her bank card through the machine she was shocked and embarrassed to find that there were not enough funds in her account. At that moment she realized that she did not have enough money to buy diapers for her baby. Devastated she went home empty handed and faced her husband to tell him the story. In that moment he was faced with the knowledge that he could not provide enough money to buy diapers for his child and that his wife was under a tremendous amount of stress because of their financial situation. He was at a turning point in his life. He looked in the mirror and there were only two choices he could make. He could face himself in the mirror and say “what is wrong with you, how could you be such a failure.” or he could get back up, dust himself off and say “how can I make things better for my family.” He chose the second option and got to work searching for ways to make things better for his family. He got outside his comfort zone, worked hard, was committed to paying off their debt and changed their financial situation completely around. He went from being someone with no money to pay for diapers to someone who is extremely well off financially. So what was it that shifted things for Peter? Was it the opportunities that were put in front of him or was there something deeper going on? Was it him? 

Why do I tell you that story? I tell you it because it illustrates how change needs to come from within us. When we truly change, there is a fundamental shift that happens to us. Something that no one can take away, not one can give to us, and that makes a shift in us that is forever. Our capacity changes, our heart changes and we become more than who we were before.  

Before we dive into the steps we can take to create lasting change in our lives, I would like to ask you to think about a question. What is one thing that you want to change in your life? One thing that would make you even happier or bring you closer to your full potential? Maybe it is strengthening a relationship, maybe it is enjoying a healthier body or mind, maybe it is changing your financial situation or feeling more peace in your life. Please take a moment to think about it and find the one thing that you would be willing to do anything to have. Got it? Okay now I would like you to think about that one thing that you would like to change and write it down in way that is specific and that would allow you to easily say “yes I reached it” or “no I didn’t reach it”. 

Goal Stealers

So now that you have your goal in mind let me ask you a question. Have you ever wondered what gets in the way of reaching your goals? There are three things that predictably block our path towards our goals if we are not aware of them. When we know what they are, we can see them coming and move on to make the changes we want. Imagine that you are at the starting line of the most important race of your life…the race towards your ultimate potential. There are three large pieces of ribbon blocking your path towards the race track. You try to break through them so you can begin your journey towards your ultimate potential but you can’t. They are holding you back and every time you step forward, you push them to their limits and then they spring you back to where you were before. You think you are stuck and there is no way around them. You begin to feel like the race is hopeless and that you should just take off your running shoes and head home to sit on the couch of mediocrity, however something inside you tells you that if you just move forward with the tools you need, you will be well on your way towards reaching your dreams. You realize that if you just knew what was holding you back, you would be able to bust through them.  

Today I will reveal the the three dream stealers that hold us back and the six steps we can do to overcome them in any area of our lives. 

The three dream stealers are perspective, pride and hopelessness. 

Loss of perspective is a dream stealer because it can cause us to forget what we want and why. The dangerous thing about perspective is that when we are out of momentum even just a little bit, our perspective slips. I remember a time when I was focused on eating healthy foods and so the snacks and treats we had in the house were all healthy. I was committed to date balls and green smoothies but then Thanksgiving came and I overindulged in turkey and cheesecake. After that I wanted cheesecake everyday. I began to lose sight of my desire to eat healthier and my short term pleasures became more important. I had lost perspective. 

Pride is a dream stealer because it can cause us to fall into the “all or nothing” thinking trap. This trap tricks us into thinking we have to be perfect to start and stay in the race. It allows us to beat ourselves up emotionally when we have made a mistake or when things are not changing as quickly as we would like. It is what keeps us  focusing on our shortcomings rather than learning from them. It stops us from asking for help from our Creator and the people around us who can support us in overcoming the challenge we face and keeps us stuck in it.  

The last dream stealer that can block our path in the race towards our potential is hopelessness. When we give into the other two of pride and loss of perspective we can begin to give up hope and feel like nothing will work anyways. This dream stealer can cause us to stop trying and settle for a lesser version of the life we could be living.  

Okay now that you know the dream stealers and you understand how they can block our path to our potential, what can we do to overcome them? It’s simple really. There are 6 steps that has helped me to be able to stick with my goals and when I use them, I am able to be in for the long haul. Before I understood them...I was a wee bit on the flaky side of the line but after I learned them, I could predictably reach my goals. Here they are...

Creator 

Heart

Action

Need to

Get back up

Excel in Kaizan

1. Creator

Yes it’s an acronym…I kind of love them because they help me to remember. So what does it mean? Well let’s break it down. Creator means that in order for us to truly change, we need all the help we can get. Sometimes the things we need to change in our lives can feel overwhelming and we wonder if we have enough strength to really make the shift. When we go to our Creator for help and express our desire to make changes, say we are sorry for the things we have done in the past that we know are wrong and ask the Creator for help…we will get it. We will get help in many ways and when we are reaching for our goals, we will be lifted by something greater than ourselves. Sometimes when I have tried this I have felt kind of silly expressing my desires and asking for help. I have thought at times “does the Creator really care if I eat a little too many Chocolate Chip Cookies? Doesn’t he have bigger things to worry about.” Then I realized that the Creator does care, because I care. He wants to help us reach our full potential and that includes working towards whatever dream is important to us. So let’s not do it alone…lets get divine help in being lifted towards our potential.  

2. Heart

Okay now that we are working as a team with the Creator the next step helps us to be open to inspiration and help from those around us. It is a change of heart. This really means having a true desire to make the changes and having a willingness to give up everything to do it. Even pride. Why do I say pride? As we talked about before, pride is one of the dream stealers because it can cause us to fear failing and cause us to give up. It can sneak into our race towards our potential by saying things like “well now I’ve totally messed up…I might as well give up because this is not working anyways.” When we let pride be more important than our dream, our fear of failing or asking for help becomes more important than our potential. 

3. Action

The next step in change is one that seems pretty straight forward but often gets missed. True change requires action. If we want something to be different, we must desire different things, think and act differently. Ever wonder why we can’t lose weight by sitting watching t.v. eating popcorn? Well this is it. Change requires action and often it is the small simple actions that make all the difference. As an ancient American Aboriginal person put it “It is with small things that great things come to pass.” So it is with our lives. Take a step forward…even after two steps back and it is still progress!

4. Need To

The next piece to the change puzzle is ‘need to’…what does that mean? Well it means that we have a true desire to change. It means that we have come to a moment in our lives when we can not stay in the status quo, when mediocrity no longer is an option and when some drive within us lights a fire in our soul to do whatever it takes to change. Sometimes this is a defining moment in time like going to the doctor and finding out that if we don’t lose weight, we’ll die or maybe it is a defining moment in a relationship when we realize that if things do not change we with lose the person we love, or maybe it’s a defining moment within our soul where we just know that things need to be different. However it comes about, it is shift in our motivation to do anything to accomplish what we set out to do, a hope in knowing that it’s possible to succeed.

5. Get Back Up

Now why is getting back up in the process to change? Um because we all fall down as we are moving towards our potential! Ever met a baby who popped out running? Nope because as babies we needed to get strong enough and learn some things before we can learn to run. Now when a baby does begin to learn to walk it is it a get up once and start walking? No way! Babies spend so much time practicing…falling down…getting back up…wobbling and finally walking. If that is how we all learn then why do we expect that when we become adults we can just do things perfect the first time? That is a crazy notion when we really think about it. When we try something new it feels awkward, we feel like we suck a little at it, we feel self conscious and we fall down. Although this doesn’t feel good, it is actually a really good thing because it means we are growing, we are getting stronger and our capacity is increasing. It takes more muscles emotionally, physically and spiritually to fall down and get back up than it does to simply stay up. So let’s redefine success. Success is getting back up fast!

6. Excel in Kaizan

Excel in Kaizan. This is one of my favorites. Kazan is a Japanese word that means seeking for constant improvement. When we are constantly seeking to improve we naturally give up our pride and fear of failure and we allow ourselves to be embraced by a desire to grow, strengthen every area of life and a commitment to strive. In a future post we will dive in even deeper about how to effectively move towards our goals in small daily steps.  

So now that we have gone into depth about the things that can block our dreams, the steps of change and what specific things we can do to move towards our true potential let’s dive deep. I encourage you to write down your answers to the following questions. When we apply what we are learning to our own lives, that is when we truly get results. 

These principles in real life

As you have probably guessed, being healthier has been one of the goals I have had for a long time. I would often start an exercise or weight loss program only to feel frustrated at myself and my lack of results and find myself hiding in my pantry eating chocolate chips and thinking to myself “this is never going to work anyways.” All of the things that can hold us back…lack of perspective, pride and hopelessness were all guests at my chocolate indulging parties and soon after I would give up and stop trying to change. That is until I began to apply the principles of C.H.A.N.G.E. 

Things began shifting for me when I realized that I was not were I wanted to be health wise and I looked at my husband who was not in the healthiest state of being and I realized that if our family continued going down the path we were headed, I would lose him. I went to my Creator and expressed a desire to learn to change, my heart softened and I became willing to do anything to make the shifts necessary to get my family on the track towards health. I began by taking action and joining the Healthfix program so I could get support to learn how to cook and eat in a healthier way. I even learned how to make healthy treats...like raw chocolate turtles so I could make lasting changes because let's face it, I was not willing to give up chocolate! My need to change became greater than my need to stay in my comfort zone of eating the way I always had. This does not mean I am perfect. I fall down and indulge in unhealthy treats and pizz sometimes but I get back up and know that this is all part of the process. I don’t have to be perfect…as Kristen Harris once said I need to be “perfectly striving.” Since making these changes in the last month everything has changed. In a few weeks being on the program my husband Andy has lost 25 pounds, I have lost 5 pounds, my skin is healthier, I have more energy…and patience with my kids, and we are on a path that we feel excited about towards even better health. We are committed to making the changes for the long term while enjoying the ride. 

Let’s make sure we’ve got it

We’ve covered a lot so far so let’s review to make sure we’ve got it.

• Change comes from within
• There are three things that hold us back in our goals towards our full potential
  1. lack of perspective
  2. pride
  3. hopelessness
• There are 6 steps we can take towards creating lasting change
  1. Creator
  2. Heart
  3. Action
  4. Need to
  5. Get back up
  6. Excel in Kaizan

Digging Deep

What is one thing you want to be even better in your life? 

Why is this important to you? 

If you do not change this one thing in the next year or 5 years how would that affect you? 

What are you willing to do to make this change in your life?  

What is one thing you can do to make a step towards this change in the next 24 hours? 

I know that when we are aware of the things that can stop us from moving towards our goals and we take the steps forward in C.H.A.N.G.E. we will create the shifts we want in our lives. We will experience abundance in all areas of life and we will be able to move towards our dreams in a way that is sustainable and effective.

If you would like support in moving towards your dream, I want to support you as much as possible so I have personally arranged for an incredible person who is an international speaker and coach to give you a personal coaching session (worth over $500) to help you with any area of your life you want even better results in…finances, relationships, business or personal happiness.  If you want this gift click here to get started. I promise it will help. I would love to hear your comments about your lesson about what I have talked about and about your dreams and how you are going to take small beautiful steps towards them.  

Much love,

Connie

CREATE THE LIFE YOU WANT BY ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

Life is a State of Mind

I remember vividly going through life feeling like something was wrong with me because I did not feel in control of my emotions.  I am a fairly passionate person, which although it can bring many blessings, it also requires temperance to be the person I want to be.  I recall feeling the massive ups and downs of my emotions that seemed to turn on a dime depending on the circumstances I was facing at any given moment.  If things were going my way…I felt happy and excited.  If things did not work out, I was disappointed, frustrated and angry.  The funny thing is that when I think back to that point in my life, it didn’t matter what circumstances I was going through, what truly mattered was the meaning I gave to the situation and how I chose to feel about it.  What do I mean?  I mean that sometimes the very same situation would happen but I would feel completely differently about it.  I think back to one time when my daughter Zoe was acting out and she hit me. I wanted her to be respectful and felt exasperated and frustrated when she lashed out at me. As much as I hate to admit it, I started asking myself questions like “why is she disrespecting me and being such a brat?” I recall another time when Zoe was doing the very same behavior but this time I was not angry or frustrated with her.  I was able to consequence her in a loving way and feel compassion towards her.  So what was different?  How could I feel and respond in a completely different way when the situations were the same? 

Why is it that we can at times go through challenging experiences and still have compassion, love,  faith and hope while at other times similar circumstances seem crushing?

I struggled for years trying to figure that out.  I wondered how I could be more loving with my husband and my children more consistently and how I could be more of the person I wanted to be no matter what was happening in my life.  I know that this life has ups and downs and I didn't want to only feel happy during the summers of my life.  I desired to have the capacity to enjoy the wintry seasons of trials that would inevitably enter my life.  I knew that this was critical to embracing a life of joy, authenticity and love no matter what circumstances the journey of life brought me. 

In my search for answers of how to create a more happy, more loving and more consistently incredible life I finally found the answer.  It was in a moment when I was at the Master Your Power Within event listening to Brandon Broadwater talk about what state of mind is and how our state of mind affects how we perceive and experience our life.  He described the ups and downs of emotions that inevitably happen if we do not manage our state of mind.  He then revealed the The Pillars of State that make all the difference.  Three pillars of state that help us to be in control of how we feel no matter what is going on in our lives.  As I listened to him describe the pillars over the course of an entire day I thought…I can do that.  A fire lit within me and I became willing to do whatever it took to be the person I wanted to be for myself, my Creator, and my family.  

Change Your Life by Asking the Right Questions

Although I wish I could go into depth about all of the three pillars, this blog is just not that long…unless you want to be reading all day. So I will do my best to share one of the pillars of state that has been pivotal for me and so many others.  The first pillar of state is quality questions. When I began to understand how much quality questions affect my life I started to understand how I could use the questions I asked myself to shift how I thought and felt about my life and began to experience the joy that comes with being more able to predicatively feel joy in my life. It didn’t mean that my life became full of fluffy bunnies and rainbows all the time. It did mean that when crap was hitting the fan, I could climb my way out of the storm and even feel joy in the center of crazy town circumstances.  

To understand quality questions, we must first understand a fundamental principle about our brain. Our brains are a loyal and diligent answering machine. If we ask a question to our brain, you better believe it will generate an answer. This can be a great asset when we are asking good quality questions, but what happens when we are asking ourselves poor quality questions? Have you ever had the experience where you made a mistake…a doozy of a mistake and you found yourself asking “what’s wrong with me?” What happens next? Notice how your brain seems to go into the filling cabinet of your soul and find every single thing you have done wrong since birth? 

So now that you know that your brain will answer any question you give it and you understand that it is right there at any time waiting to give you an answer.  Think about what kinds of questions you are asking yourself.  Are you asking yourself questions that build you and the people you love around you up or are you asking questions that foster doubt, fear and frustration?  Think back to when I began exploring state and I told a story of how I was responding to my daughter when she was acting out. When I was asking the question “why is she being a disrespectful brat?” what kind of answers do you think I got? Did these answers bring me closer to my daughter and the kind of parent I want to be? When I was able to be loving towards her even though she was acting out do you think the questions I was asking were different? What happens with our interactions with the people we love when we ask questions like “how can I be more loving” and “what am I grateful for about this person?” even when they might not be doing everything we want them to?  As Brandon Broadwater says "The quality of our questions direct the quality of our life." 

To understand this principle fully I would like to tell you a story.  It is one that is dear to me because it helped me to fully see how powerful this principle is and how it can either destroy or save lives.  Save lives?  Pretty tall promise isn’t it?  Well just listen to this story. To respect their privacy, I have changed the names of the people in the story. 

Kevin was married to his beautiful wife Emily and they had one child.  He was going to school and had everything going for him; a family that loved him, a home and the anticipation of a future career.  However even with all of these incredible things in his life he was depressed much of the time.  He had difficulty getting out of bed and wasn’t enjoying spending time with his wife and daughter in the way that he wanted to.  He was in a dark place that he did not know how to get out of.  He was considering throwing away the most precious gift the Creator gave him and was contemplating killing himself, leaving his young wife Emily widowed and his daughter fatherless.  This decision would change the destiny not only for himself but for everyone who ever knew him and most especially his family who loved him.  

Then Kevin made a decision that would change his life forever.  He bumped into a friend who seemed to have a light of hope and happiness within him that Kevin had not seen in himself for a long time.  He needed to know how his friend got it so he asked his friend.  His friend began to enthusiastically tell him that he learned the lessons that changed his life to create more abundance, happiness and purpose at an event called Master Your Power Within and he invited Kevin to go with him. Kevin reluctantly agreed. He had no idea how much that one decision would change his destiny. As he sat back at the event listening to the speaker with his arms folded to guard him from the possibility of hope, an arrow of truth hit his soul.  He sat up, began to pay attention and learned one of the lessons that would save his life.  One of the lessons Kevin learned that night was the power of poor quality questions and how they were robbing him of the life he wanted.  He learned how by changing the questions he was asking himself, he could change how he feels and could change the destination of his life.  

I caught up with Kevin years later and he shared that he is so grateful for the lessons he learned that day and for the principles that have shifted his life. He told me how he began applying the principles he learned at Master Your Power Within and that he started incorporating quality questions in his life by starting his days with “why is today going to be incredible” and implementing the pillars of state. He told of how these small changes completely shifted his state of mind from a place of contemplating ending his life to a place of joy that he had never before experienced.  Now Kevin has two more little ones that he gets to see a lot of because he is able to work from home helping others find the hope, joy and success that they want in this life.  

Now that you’ve heard that story do you think the quality of your questions change the quality of your lives?

What kinds of questions are you asking yourself…poor quality questions or quality questions?  

How would asking “what am I grateful for?” more often affect the quality of your life?

I know that quality questions and the other pillars of state have made a huge change in my life. As I pay more close attention to what questions I am asking myself I can more intentionally direct how I am feeling and how I chose to react. I know that you are a person of action because you are reading this blog so my challenge to you is to begin asking yourself at least one quality question first thing in the morning every day.  I know that as you include more quality questions in your own life, you will experience my joy, happiness and results that you desire. I would love to hear what you notice so please leave comments and share your experiences with us. 

Much love,

Connie

4 HOLIDAY STATE STEALERS REVEALED

When I think about the holidays I remember seeing them through the eyes of a child.  I recall the excitement and joy of Christmas as a young one looking up at the Christmas tree that seemed to go on forever with it’s sparkling lights and shiny ornaments, going sledding with my family and rushing inside with rosy cheeks for hot chocolate and cookies.  I remember the anticipation of Christmas morning and all the unexpected wonder it would bring.  I think back to that time in my life and everything seemed to come together seamlessly…the gifts magically appeared under the tree, the cookies wondrously appeared from the freezer to lovely Christmas trays.  I didn’t know or appreciate all the work and preparation that was going on behind the scenes to create those memories I love so much.  Now I am not saying Christmas as a child was perfect…oh no not at all..I also recall crazy family dynamics, fights and tension too.  However what I remember most about the holidays was happy memories. 

Now that I am grown with a family of my own, it’s only natural that I want to create a sense of wonder, excitement and joy in my own family.  

And yet as the holiday season rolls forward, sometimes it is difficult not to get swept away in searching for the perfect gift, stressing over money, spending hours making treats, and a “to do” list that begins to seam like it is a mile long monster that will never be completed.   

There have been times during the holidays when I have been so concerned with getting things done so we could have the "perfect Christmas" that I found myself distracted, stressed out and frustrated with the very people I wanted to feel those warm cuddly feelings towards.  

So how do we create the holiday season we so desperately desire and actually enjoy it? 

Before we can understand how to create the Christmas we desire, we first need an awareness of 4 holiday stealers that will creep up on our festivities and rob us of the joy we could have. When we are aware of these holiday stealers are we can spot them before they sneak into our festivities and stop them in their tracks so we can love the holidays. My husband described holiday state stealers best when he said if he could think of a holiday that would have everyone sad, grouchy and frustrated with each other, he would be sure to include massive doses of sugar, lack of sleep, busyness and overstimulation.  Sound familiar? So with all that stacked against us how do we create incredible memories? We identify the 4 holiday stealers and learn how we can manage them. 

STATE OF MIND

Holiday state stealers are notorious for robbing us of our state of mind.  State of mind is our ability to perceive and experience our life. When we are in a good state of mind we have an attitude of "it will work out" even when things aren't going the way we want them to. When we have a poor state of mind everything is harder and our patience fuse is shorter.  There are many things that can affect state of mind such as sleep, nutrition and the language we are using. I learned about managing state of mind to create the life I want in the Master Your Power Within Event. The speaker Brandon Broadwater spent a day on how we can manage our state using Higher Law Principles. Although I don't have time in this post to go through everything he covered in a whole day, I will give you a piece of it that will help you today and throughout the holidays.

4 HOLIDAY STEALERS

1. SWEET TRAP

The first potential holiday state stealer is sugar. Ever notice how much sugar is floating around at Christmas time? I know there are a lot of opinions about sugar but I think we can all agree that sugar has an effect on our bodies and that too much of it probably isn't great for our health. If you doubt that sugar affects the body just watch a child's behavior 40 minutes after they have sugar. Now does this happen only with children? Um nope...watch how you feel 40 minutes after having sugar. That's when the low kicks in and life does not seem quite as lovely. 

2. SLEEP SNARE

What is the next state stealer to be on the look out for that can rob us of Christmas magic?  Sleep...or rather lack of sleep to be specific.  I remember many Christmases waking up with overtired, heavy eyelids after staying up to the wee hours in the morning wrapping gifts and finding wide eyes filled with excitement and anticipation staring back at me.  My daughter Zoe had been awake for a long time just waiting for her overtired parents to roll out of bed and finally when she was tired of the wait she thought it best to do the sure fire "stand and stare" at us until we got up.  Seeing her there with full anticipation in her eyes, we could do nothing other than pour ourselves out of bed in hopes that Christmas magic would kick in and banish our overtired headaches.  I had prepared so much the night before in hopes for everything to be “perfect” that I missed what I wanted most.  I missed being present with my daughter during Christmas morning.  So what’s the answer?  How do we avoid the sleep snare this holiday season…we do all we can to get enough sleep and help our kids get enough sleep.  A rested family is a happy family.  

3. MORE IS NOT BETTER

There is one last state stealing culprit that if we don’t deal with, it will tangle the joy of the holidays.  This is one trap that society seems to push for so hard this time of year.  It is one that guilts us into buying too many presents, and going to every possible holiday event we hear about.  It is one that can rob us of what we truly want during the holidays whether that is to remember the spiritual gifts that the Christmas season represents or be closer to the people we love.  So what I am talking about?  I’m talking about the impulse to overdo Christmas. Overdo Christmas…what do I mean?  I mean overshot, overbuy, over schedule, over eat, over stimulate.  I’m talking about rather than simplifying the season…stuffing the season with more.  What are the costs of experiencing the holidays in this way?  Stress, frustration, fear of finances and a difficulty truly enjoying the holidays.  

4. PERFECTION MYTH

I don't know what it is about the holidays but we can often feel like everything needs to be perfect for it to be good. We search for the perfect gifts, we plan the perfect meal, we want the picture perfect family. However the reality is that it is never perfect! In fact we are never perfect! We aren't meant to be. Life is meant to be a little messy and it is okay. When we are stuck in thinking things need to be perfect, we miss the messy and beautiful wonder of the here and now. The moment when none of the kids are smiling in the Christmas photo and you look over at your partner and laugh at the crazy Christmas sweater you are wearing that your Aunt Greta gave you. 

HOLIDAY STEALERS IN ACTION

Weeks before a party I was hosting I spent hours making Christmas treats, cleaning my house to perfection and buying gifts for everyone who was coming.  And by the time the party arrived…I was exhausted.  I rushed around making sure punch bowls were filled, treats were stacked and everything was cleaned.  

And I missed it.  

At one point I remember looking around and seeing all my friends and family having a great time talking with one another and I realized that I hadn’t really connected with anyone and that I just wanted everyone to leave because I was tired and wanted to go to bed.  Now was that the snuggly Christmas feeling I was going for when I was planning the party?  Heck no!  I wanted to be closer to the people I love the most, I wanted to feel that Christmas spirit enter my heart.  I missed it because I wanted things to be “perfect”.  I’m grateful for that memory because it has been a constant reminder for me to simplify the Christmas season so I can actually enjoy it.

DIGGING DEEP

Okay so now you are armed with knowledge about the holiday stealers that are lurking about trying to take away your holiday fun. Now that you are aware of the things that can take out your holiday cheer, you can make a decision about how you can manage them so that you can experience the full spirit of Christmas this holiday season. It will take some work though. Managing these holiday state stealers takes some planning and a willingness to break through old patters. To help you on this path, I encourage you to answer the following questions to come up with a plan that will work for you this holiday season. 

1. What is one thing you can do to manage the sweet trap?  (Maybe it is making healthy holiday treats so you have options or maybe it is having treats before bedtime to avoid the sugar crash) 
2. When can you commit to going to bed so you get enough sleep?
3. What is one way you can simplify the holidays?
4. How can you remind yourself that the holidays aren't supposed to be "perfect"?

I know that doing these things has made a makes a huge difference in helping us love the holidays again. I know that as find ways to avoid the holiday stealers and find more ways to be even more present and create a simplified holiday season, you will feel more peace, joy and happiness this Christmas. I wish you and your family all the love and happiness that your heart can hold this holiday season.  

Much love,

Connie